The word "responsibility" may not seem very exciting. When we think of responsibility, we often think of the dull things in life we have to do. Yet taking responsibility can be very exciting in the way that it makes us feel about ourselves: Proud. Competent. Grown up. Skillful. Full of potential. "The sky's the limit."
Taking responsibility helps a person mature. This was documented by a study of teenagers during the Great Depression, when the world experienced huge financial setbacks. In some families the teenagers had to take on adult responsibilities. The girls did the domestic chores so their mothers could seek employment. The boys went out and earned money at jobs to give to their families. They had to work harder than they did before the Great Depression took away their families' money. They didn't have as much time for fun.
Yet teachers noticed big differences in these teenagers. They were more independent and self-controlled than others. They were more grown up. Years later, when they were adults, they were more family-centered than those who had not taken on responsibilities as teenagers.
Other studies have shown that children and teenagers who do chores at home grow up to be happier, more successful, to have better marriages and more friends than children and teenagers who have no responsibilities at home.
So, dull as it may sound, responsibility is actually a tool to help you grow up to be a better and happier person. And that's exciting.
A responsible person is willing to help out when needed. Have you ever heard the children's story of the hen who wanted help from the other animals in preparing a loaf of bread? She asked the other animals to help as she planted the wheat for the bread, harvested it, winnowed it, made the bread dough, and baked the bread. None of the other animals would take any responsibility. Yet, when the bread was baked, all the animals wanted to eat it. The hen said no to them. Since they weren't willing to help with the responsibility of making the bread, why should they enjoy the rewards of eating it? The hen enjoyed the delicious bread all by herself.
This is a child's tale, but it teaches an important lesson about life. If we are not willing to take responsibility, we neither deserve nor get the rewards of labor.
One good way to tell if a person is responsible is to measure word against deed. Does he or she say one thing but do another? Or does the person back up their great words with equally great deeds? It is easy to say the right words, but to do them is something else again.
Related to responsibility is the ability to keep promises. A responsible person takes promises seriously. What if five people promised to help clean out a room at school but only two showed up to do it? How would you feel if you were one of the two who did what they said they would? How would you feel about the other three who broke their word?
How many people do you know who keep their promises? Some people have no intention of keeping their word. Politicians are famous for making promises that will get them elected. Once in office, they seem to forget many of their own words.
It is important to keep promises and to do what we say we will do. Breaking promises is irresponsible because it puts a burden on other people--a burden we said we would shoulder ourselves.
Objectives
Cognitive:Students will have a working definition of responsibility and examples of responsibility and irresponsibility. Affective:Students will admire responsible people and will want to be like them; students will feel disapproval toward irresponsible people and not want to be like them. Behavioral:Students will exhibit more responsible behavior in the school setting and at home.
Class Session I:
Story: "A Message to Garcia"
When war broke out between Spain and the United States it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents [Garcia]. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba--no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly. What to do!
Someone said to the President, "There's a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can."
Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How "the fellow by the name of Rowan" took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia--are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail. The point that I wish to make is this: [President] McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter…
No man who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well-nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man--the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it.
"You see that bookkeeper," said the foreman to me in a large factory.
"Yes, what about him?"
"Well he's a fine accountant, but if I'd send him up town on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, and on the other hand, might stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street would forget what he had been sent for." Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia?
Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted. He is wanted in every city, town and village--in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed and needed badly--the man who can carry a message to Garcia.
Ask students what they think of Rowan. Does he seem like a trustworthy person? Is Rowan the type of person they would like to be with in a tough situation? Would he make a good friend? A good comrade-in-arms? A good husband? A good father?
Mention that although responsibility sometimes seems like a burden, it actually helps our lives to be freer. Point out the good effects that taking on adult responsibilities had on teenagers during the Great Depression (on the first page of the chapter in their student books):
They were more independent and self-controlled than others. They were more grown up. Years later, when they were adults, they were more family-centered than those who had not taken on responsibilities as teenagers.
Thinking of others
Responsible people are able to put aside their own welfare and concentrate on the larger picture of what is good for everyone. They do not allow their own egos to get in the way of the decision-making process but think clearly about what is best for the whole. If in the process they make a mistake, they admit it and move on.
Irresponsible people get caught up with themselves. How they appear is more important than who they are. They always want to be right, even if it means inflicting harm upon others. They tend to be arrogant.
Responsible people not only admit their mistakes, but they are ready to take the blame for any subsequent damage due to a bad decision. Irresponsible people are quick to make excuses for things that go wrong, often putting the blame on others.
An excellent illustration of irresponsibility is the character of Gilderoy Lockhart in the popular Harry Potter series. Dripping with vanity, in his best-selling books he takes credit for the brave actions of others, convincing the world of wizardry that he is a great hero. At Hogwarts, however, he continually puts students and faculty in peril by being self-centered. At a climatic moment, he is caught running away from a confrontation with a horrible monster in order to save himself. The real hero, Harry Potter, takes responsibility, sacrifices his own safety, and saves the situation.
A person who has a sense of responsibility fulfills her obligations despite her personal feelings and situation. A responsible teacher gives her all to her class even if she had a fight with a co-worker that morning. If she is sick, she calls in as soon as possible in order to arrange for a substitute and does all she can to provide a clear lesson plan.
At the time of Hurricane Katrina, many responsible people were elevated to the level of heroes for either reporting to work or not abandoning their posts despite the threat to their own lives. Countless hospital caregivers, nursing home staff, police and firefighters led the way to help stranded or disabled people get to safety instead of running away from their responsibilities.
Beyond the call
An even higher level of responsibility is when people enter a situation, not because they are supposed to or obligated to by their position, but because their heart calls them to take action where they see a need. People like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. became great leaders by going “beyond the call of duty” to seek radical change in their societies. They held no public position that obligated them to act. They became leaders because of their concern for the suffering of their people. Their compassion and indignation over the injustices they saw led them to take on huge responsibilities.
Both Gandhi and King did this at a sacrifice to themselves. Their families suffered because they were gone so often, rallying people to their causes. Their personal finances suffered because they neglected their professions. Gandhi was an accomplished lawyer, and King was a graduate of a pre-eminent theological school and the pastor of a successful church. Both men could have been private successes. Instead they chose to be public servants—even giving their lives--in order that people of color might be treated with justice in their nations. For shouldering these responsibilities, they will be remembered forever.
The highest level of responsibility involves following the dictates of your heart and conscience to do what is right, whatever the personal cost. The push to act comes from within yourself and involves sincere concern for the welfare of others and for ideals like justice.
Everyone is responsible
Responsibility is not just for a few exceptional people, though. Although we will not all become like Gandhi or Martin Luther King, taking responsibility is part of being a full-fledged human being. It makes us free and fulfills our sense of purpose. Without taking responsibility, we cannot grow into the kinds of people we were meant to be. We will not feel good about ourselves or realize our potential if we do not take responsibility in our lives.
If we demonstrate responsibility in little things, we will find eventually that we become responsible for much larger things. The world notices and rewards responsible people. In fact, as the story of the man who carried a message to Garcia points out, the world is in dire need of them.
Becoming responsible
Whether we become responsible people or not depends on the seemingly insignificant decisions we make day by day. To begin to take responsibility in our lives, it is wise to remember the advice of American patriot Thomas Jefferson:
Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly.
A modern way to think of this is to pretend you are the star of your own life movie--your life is being filmed! Act the way you think a hero or heroine should act. Remember that your deeds are being recorded. Make the film of your life an exciting and inspiring one--one you will be proud to have others watch.
Questions for reflection
1. How would you describe a person who has a sense of responsibility?
2. How do we differentiate a responsible person from an irresponsible one?
3. Why do you think some people grow up to be responsible and others irresponsible?
4. Do we decide the kind of person we become?
5. Do you know people who say one thing but do another? Why do they do this?
6. Who do you know whose words and deeds are one?
7. What related character qualities do these people have?
8. Are responsible people always unselfish?
9. Are unselfish people always responsible?
Discussion
The text points out that responsible people are unselfish—they are thinking of the best outcomes for everyone involved, not just themselves. Ask students to name examples of responsible (and unselfish) people and behavior from the text (the examples of Harry Potter, teachers, hospital workers, nurses, police, and firefighters are given) as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi.
Ask students to name irresponsible people they know, have heard about or read about, perhaps on the news or in newspapers. Ask them to discern and name the selfishness behind the person's actions (e.g., a bank robber did not think of the people who might be wounded if he opened fire in a crowded bank; he only thought of his own need and desire for money he did not earn). How could the person have acted responsibly instead?
Class Session II:
Exercise: “The Hike”
Alex, Steve and Jim loved nothing better than to go hiking. One day, as they were hiking in the countryside, it began to get dark. They hurried to get back to the campsite.
“Let’s go this way!” said Alex, as they came to a steep ravine.
“It looks dangerous to me,” said Jim, peering over the edge. “Why don’t we go back the same way we came?”
“ Because it will take an hour longer and get dark before we get back, dummy!” said Alex. “Anyway, we’ll be fine. What do you think, Steve?” Steve was silent. Actually he thought it was a pretty stupid idea. But all afternoon Alex had been teasing him about being overcautious, calling him chicken and a baby. It was time to prove him wrong.
“Looks okay to me,” he said, and without delay they set off down the steep slope. Almost as soon as they had begun, Alex, who was the most experienced, knew they had made a mistake. Still, he decided to carry on because he didn’t want to face the scorn his companions would pour on him if he admitted his mistake. Then suddenly, Jim, who was in the lead, slipped on a loose stone and tumbled to the rocks below,
Scared, his companions made their way down as quickly as they could. They saw that Jim had a deep cut in his leg and was in great pain. Alex and Steve exchanged glances.
“We’ll have to carry him down to the town,” Alex said grimly. “We should be able to get help there.”
They made their way as quickly as possible, but progress was slow. By the time they arrived everything was closed. By this time Jim was almost unconscious due to the loss of blood.
“What about that?” said Alex, pointing to the cafeteria, now closed for the night. “They must have a phone! I know it’s locked, but…” He looked to Steve for support. “We could always break a window and force ourselves in.”
“We can’t do that,” said Steve. “It’s a crime. We’d be arrested.”
Questions for reflection
1. What do you think of the nature of the relationship among Alex, Steve and Jim? Are they real friends?
2. What can you tell about the character of each of them?
3. There are three places where Alex shows he is an irresponsible character. Can you spot these three places? What are they?
4. Does covering up one irresponsible action with another help the boys get out of the situation they are in?
5. Alex is a leader among the boys. His decisions seem to carry some weight with them. Do you think Alex is a good leader?
6. What do you think Steve and Alex should do at this point?
7. In what way was Steve irresponsible? In what way was he responsible?
Hold a class discussion, asking students to share their answers and opinions in relation to this story and the questions.
Reflection exercise: “Responsible acts”
Think of three responsible acts you have done in the past week. Now think of three irresponsible acts you have done. What motivated you in both of these cases? Looking at the course of your life, do you think you are becoming a more responsible person or a less responsible one? Give reasons for your answer.
Introduction
Table of Contents
Taking responsibility helps a person mature. This was documented by a study of teenagers during the Great Depression, when the world experienced huge financial setbacks. In some families the teenagers had to take on adult responsibilities. The girls did the domestic chores so their mothers could seek employment. The boys went out and earned money at jobs to give to their families. They had to work harder than they did before the Great Depression took away their families' money. They didn't have as much time for fun.
Yet teachers noticed big differences in these teenagers. They were more independent and self-controlled than others. They were more grown up. Years later, when they were adults, they were more family-centered than those who had not taken on responsibilities as teenagers.
Other studies have shown that children and teenagers who do chores at home grow up to be happier, more successful, to have better marriages and more friends than children and teenagers who have no responsibilities at home.
So, dull as it may sound, responsibility is actually a tool to help you grow up to be a better and happier person. And that's exciting.
A responsible person is willing to help out when needed. Have you ever heard the children's story of the hen who wanted help from the other animals in preparing a loaf of bread? She asked the other animals to help as she planted the wheat for the bread, harvested it, winnowed it, made the bread dough, and baked the bread. None of the other animals would take any responsibility. Yet, when the bread was baked, all the animals wanted to eat it. The hen said no to them. Since they weren't willing to help with the responsibility of making the bread, why should they enjoy the rewards of eating it? The hen enjoyed the delicious bread all by herself.
This is a child's tale, but it teaches an important lesson about life. If we are not willing to take responsibility, we neither deserve nor get the rewards of labor.
One good way to tell if a person is responsible is to measure word against deed. Does he or she say one thing but do another? Or does the person back up their great words with equally great deeds? It is easy to say the right words, but to do them is something else again.
Related to responsibility is the ability to keep promises. A responsible person takes promises seriously. What if five people promised to help clean out a room at school but only two showed up to do it? How would you feel if you were one of the two who did what they said they would? How would you feel about the other three who broke their word?
How many people do you know who keep their promises? Some people have no intention of keeping their word. Politicians are famous for making promises that will get them elected. Once in office, they seem to forget many of their own words.
It is important to keep promises and to do what we say we will do. Breaking promises is irresponsible because it puts a burden on other people--a burden we said we would shoulder ourselves.
Objectives
Cognitive: Students will have a working definition of responsibility and examples of responsibility and irresponsibility.Affective: Students will admire responsible people and will want to be like them; students will feel disapproval toward irresponsible people and not want to be like them.
Behavioral: Students will exhibit more responsible behavior in the school setting and at home.
Class Session I:
Story: "A Message to Garcia"
When war broke out between Spain and the United States it was very necessary to communicate quickly with the leader of the Insurgents [Garcia]. Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba--no one knew where. No mail nor telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly. What to do!Someone said to the President, "There's a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can."
Rowan was sent for and given a letter to be delivered to Garcia. How "the fellow by the name of Rowan" took the letter, sealed it up in an oil-skin pouch, strapped it over his heart, in four days landed by night off the coast of Cuba from an open boat, disappeared into the jungle, and in three weeks came out on the other side of the Island, having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered his letter to Garcia--are things I have no special desire now to tell in detail. The point that I wish to make is this: [President] McKinley gave Rowan a letter to be delivered to Garcia; Rowan took the letter…
No man who has endeavored to carry out an enterprise where many hands were needed, but has been well-nigh appalled at times by the imbecility of the average man--the inability or unwillingness to concentrate on a thing and do it.
"You see that bookkeeper," said the foreman to me in a large factory.
"Yes, what about him?"
"Well he's a fine accountant, but if I'd send him up town on an errand, he might accomplish the errand all right, and on the other hand, might stop at four saloons on the way, and when he got to Main Street would forget what he had been sent for." Can such a man be entrusted to carry a message to Garcia?
Civilization is one long anxious search for just such individuals. Anything such a man asks shall be granted. He is wanted in every city, town and village--in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such: he is needed and needed badly--the man who can carry a message to Garcia.
[Website: people.Whitman.edu/~hashimiy/Garcia.htm]
Discussion
Ask students what they think of Rowan. Does he seem like a trustworthy person? Is Rowan the type of person they would like to be with in a tough situation? Would he make a good friend? A good comrade-in-arms? A good husband? A good father?Mention that although responsibility sometimes seems like a burden, it actually helps our lives to be freer. Point out the good effects that taking on adult responsibilities had on teenagers during the Great Depression (on the first page of the chapter in their student books):
They were more independent and self-controlled than others. They were more grown up. Years later, when they were adults, they were more family-centered than those who had not taken on responsibilities as teenagers.
Thinking of others
Responsible people are able to put aside their own welfare and concentrate on the larger picture of what is good for everyone. They do not allow their own egos to get in the way of the decision-making process but think clearly about what is best for the whole. If in the process they make a mistake, they admit it and move on.Irresponsible people get caught up with themselves. How they appear is more important than who they are. They always want to be right, even if it means inflicting harm upon others. They tend to be arrogant.
Responsible people not only admit their mistakes, but they are ready to take the blame for any subsequent damage due to a bad decision. Irresponsible people are quick to make excuses for things that go wrong, often putting the blame on others.
An excellent illustration of irresponsibility is the character of Gilderoy Lockhart in the popular Harry Potter series. Dripping with vanity, in his best-selling books he takes credit for the brave actions of others, convincing the world of wizardry that he is a great hero. At Hogwarts, however, he continually puts students and faculty in peril by being self-centered. At a climatic moment, he is caught running away from a confrontation with a horrible monster in order to save himself. The real hero, Harry Potter, takes responsibility, sacrifices his own safety, and saves the situation.
A person who has a sense of responsibility fulfills her obligations despite her personal feelings and situation. A responsible teacher gives her all to her class even if she had a fight with a co-worker that morning. If she is sick, she calls in as soon as possible in order to arrange for a substitute and does all she can to provide a clear lesson plan.
At the time of Hurricane Katrina, many responsible people were elevated to the level of heroes for either reporting to work or not abandoning their posts despite the threat to their own lives. Countless hospital caregivers, nursing home staff, police and firefighters led the way to help stranded or disabled people get to safety instead of running away from their responsibilities.
Beyond the call
An even higher level of responsibility is when people enter a situation, not because they are supposed to or obligated to by their position, but because their heart calls them to take action where they see a need. People like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. became great leaders by going “beyond the call of duty” to seek radical change in their societies. They held no public position that obligated them to act. They became leaders because of their concern for the suffering of their people. Their compassion and indignation over the injustices they saw led them to take on huge responsibilities.Both Gandhi and King did this at a sacrifice to themselves. Their families suffered because they were gone so often, rallying people to their causes. Their personal finances suffered because they neglected their professions. Gandhi was an accomplished lawyer, and King was a graduate of a pre-eminent theological school and the pastor of a successful church. Both men could have been private successes. Instead they chose to be public servants—even giving their lives--in order that people of color might be treated with justice in their nations. For shouldering these responsibilities, they will be remembered forever.
The highest level of responsibility involves following the dictates of your heart and conscience to do what is right, whatever the personal cost. The push to act comes from within yourself and involves sincere concern for the welfare of others and for ideals like justice.
Everyone is responsible
Responsibility is not just for a few exceptional people, though. Although we will not all become like Gandhi or Martin Luther King, taking responsibility is part of being a full-fledged human being. It makes us free and fulfills our sense of purpose. Without taking responsibility, we cannot grow into the kinds of people we were meant to be. We will not feel good about ourselves or realize our potential if we do not take responsibility in our lives.If we demonstrate responsibility in little things, we will find eventually that we become responsible for much larger things. The world notices and rewards responsible people. In fact, as the story of the man who carried a message to Garcia points out, the world is in dire need of them.
Becoming responsible
Whether we become responsible people or not depends on the seemingly insignificant decisions we make day by day. To begin to take responsibility in our lives, it is wise to remember the advice of American patriot Thomas Jefferson:
Whenever you are to do a thing, though it can never be known but to yourself, ask yourself how you would act were all the world looking at you and act accordingly.
A modern way to think of this is to pretend you are the star of your own life movie--your life is being filmed! Act the way you think a hero or heroine should act. Remember that your deeds are being recorded. Make the film of your life an exciting and inspiring one--one you will be proud to have others watch.
Questions for reflection
1. How would you describe a person who has a sense of responsibility?
2. How do we differentiate a responsible person from an irresponsible one?
3. Why do you think some people grow up to be responsible and others irresponsible?
4. Do we decide the kind of person we become?
5. Do you know people who say one thing but do another? Why do they do this?
6. Who do you know whose words and deeds are one?
7. What related character qualities do these people have?
8. Are responsible people always unselfish?
9. Are unselfish people always responsible?
Discussion
The text points out that responsible people are unselfish—they are thinking of the best outcomes for everyone involved, not just themselves. Ask students to name examples of responsible (and unselfish) people and behavior from the text (the examples of Harry Potter, teachers, hospital workers, nurses, police, and firefighters are given) as well as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mahatma Gandhi.
Ask students to name irresponsible people they know, have heard about or read about, perhaps on the news or in newspapers. Ask them to discern and name the selfishness behind the person's actions (e.g., a bank robber did not think of the people who might be wounded if he opened fire in a crowded bank; he only thought of his own need and desire for money he did not earn). How could the person have acted responsibly instead?
Class Session II:
Exercise: “The Hike”
Alex, Steve and Jim loved nothing better than to go hiking. One day, as they were hiking in the countryside, it began to get dark. They hurried to get back to the campsite.
“Let’s go this way!” said Alex, as they came to a steep ravine.
“It looks dangerous to me,” said Jim, peering over the edge. “Why don’t we go back the same way we came?”
“ Because it will take an hour longer and get dark before we get back, dummy!” said Alex. “Anyway, we’ll be fine. What do you think, Steve?”
Steve was silent. Actually he thought it was a pretty stupid idea. But all afternoon Alex had been teasing him about being overcautious, calling him chicken and a baby. It was time to prove him wrong.
“Looks okay to me,” he said, and without delay they set off down the steep slope. Almost as soon as they had begun, Alex, who was the most experienced, knew they had made a mistake. Still, he decided to carry on because he didn’t want to face the scorn his companions would pour on him if he admitted his mistake. Then suddenly, Jim, who was in the lead, slipped on a loose stone and tumbled to the rocks below,
Scared, his companions made their way down as quickly as they could. They saw that Jim had a deep cut in his leg and was in great pain. Alex and Steve exchanged glances.
“We’ll have to carry him down to the town,” Alex said grimly. “We should be able to get help there.”
They made their way as quickly as possible, but progress was slow. By the time they arrived everything was closed. By this time Jim was almost unconscious due to the loss of blood.
“What about that?” said Alex, pointing to the cafeteria, now closed for the night. “They must have a phone! I know it’s locked, but…” He looked to Steve for support.
“We could always break a window and force ourselves in.”
“We can’t do that,” said Steve. “It’s a crime. We’d be arrested.”
Questions for reflection
1. What do you think of the nature of the relationship among Alex, Steve and Jim? Are they real friends?
2. What can you tell about the character of each of them?
3. There are three places where Alex shows he is an irresponsible character. Can you spot these three places? What are they?
4. Does covering up one irresponsible action with another help the boys get out of the situation they are in?
5. Alex is a leader among the boys. His decisions seem to carry some weight with them. Do you think Alex is a good leader?
6. What do you think Steve and Alex should do at this point?
7. In what way was Steve irresponsible? In what way was he responsible?
Hold a class discussion, asking students to share their answers and opinions in relation to this story and the questions.
Reflection exercise: “Responsible acts”
Think of three responsible acts you have done in the past week. Now think of three irresponsible acts you have done. What motivated you in both of these cases? Looking at the course of your life, do you think you are becoming a more responsible person or a less responsible one? Give reasons for your answer.